E-Flite P-40 Warhawk 300 ARF

[ATIS]

E-FLITE
P-40 WARHAWK 300 ARF
BUILD AND REVIEW




http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=228http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=229






The EFlite P-40 comes very neatly and securely packaged. The interlocking foam cross members keep everything in place during shipping so you shouldnt have any damage upon arrival. Its a nice touch compared to just taping the cross members into place and hoping they stayed put. (Note: The cross members have to be pulled STRAIGHT up to remove them after you have removed the tape)

Whats in the Box:

(1) P-40
(1) Park 300BL motor (installed)
(1) 18 amp BL ESC (installed)
(1) Spare prop
(1) Spare nose cone
(1) Display stand with bomb
(+) Misc hardware (pushrod and control surface horns)


Whats not in the Box:

Transmitter
2s 340 lipo
2 servo's (S60)
Rx
10 amp BL ESC
The Build:

Wing:

The first step is installing the aileron servo...double check yours works before installing and adding a drop of CA, mine was bad and I had to cut it out...the joys of taking things for granted.


http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=226
Fuse:

Install the elevator servo (again verify it works before installing). Now install the ESC and the RX into the fuse. Connect everything up the Rx. (NOTE: The EFlite 10amp ESC comes with the LVC set for 3s, please reprogram it per the instructions for 2s LVC or you wont be able to go to WOT without the motor shutting off)


http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=227
Binding:

I prefer to bind the RX to the TX before I attach the pushrods to the control surface horns incase a servo is not centered it wont drive the control surface to the maximum deflection or strip itself out.

Once your done binding leave the TX on and just remove the Bind plug. Its now time to center everything and attach the pushrods to the elevator. For the aelironss, attach the servo arm to both pushrods and then attach the arm to the servo followed by attaching the pushrod to the control surface. I cose to remove a little foam forward of the control rod so I could get an extra 1-2mm of throw on the aelirons.

Final Assembly:

Now connect the front of the wing to the fuse and slide the back portion of the wing into the fuse. Use the little wire tool to fish out the rubber O ring and pull it up and over the mounting point under the canopy. The wing is now locked into place.

Check your CG with the lipo installed by balancing her inverted.

Total build time: 30 minutes

PREFLIGHT:

Double check your control surfaces, with my DX6 my aelirons were reversed so I had to reverse the servo in the programming screen. For throws, I like alot and set my aelirons to the max for high rates. Everyone is different so if your new go by the book here.

Report Card:


Good:

CG marks on TOP of the wing (right along the panel line)
Quality foam
Fast build
Nice details... spinner looks great
Display stand
Bad:

Canopy magnets could be stronger
No pilot
Rudder should have been standard/optional
Designed for 2s 340mah lipo (slightly larger battery opening would have been nice)
FLIGHT REPORT:

http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=248http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=249



Weather Conditions:

Overcast
3-5mph winds
Set Up:

Stock motor
EFlite 10 amp ESC
1 S75 servo
1 S60 servo
AR6110E RX
TP 2s 730mah lipo (13c discharge)

Maiden:

What can I say, CG was set at 1 1/2" from LE. HL was a little scary, she went nose up on launch and I had to stuff the stick to get her level. I trimmed her a little and got her leveled out. Mine required 1 click of right trim to level the wings. 1/2 throttle she will fly around nice and easy. Rolls at this speed result in a lose of altitude... a bigger lose then I would expect from a plane of this size so be prepared. Elevator was SENSITIVE... I cant express that enough. I had 20% EXPO and 10mm of throw (20mm total) and she was extremely touchy. Ailerons had 20% EXPO and they were fine.

At WOT, rolls were nice, slightly faster then scale but still only around 360* per 1.5 seconds. Loops are either big and easy or snap her over her back at the top depending on how much elevator you give. Landings are easy, dead stick her and keep the nose down a little and she will glide in.

On the second flight I reduced the elevator travel to 6mm in each direction and increased EXPO to 35%. Much better.

Report Card:

HL: Throw HARD, this is not an easy toss plane
Glide: Not bad but keep the nose down a little
Rolls: Scale, but loss of altitude
Loops: Big or small, your choice
Inverted: Requires some down elevator
Speed: 20-25mph
Landing: glides in nicely on dead stick
Beginner: No, small, agile, orientation can be tricky with less then clear skies.



http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=250
Summary:

Great flyer. Surprising faster then I expected and agile. You can turn her on her side at WOT and yank the elevator and she carve the air very quickly....nearly a 90* turn but she will lose alot of speed so level the wings right after you make the 90* turn. Impressive looks in the air, I was lost in her beauty and could heroic music playing in my head as I buzzed the flight line. She is the perfect keep in the backseat plane!!

I gotta thank the wife for the photos as I know she hates trying to chase one of my planes around the sky with the camera.

http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=235http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=233http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=230


http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=251

[ATIS]

The wife being the understanding and loving individual she is (not to mention supportive of my RC addiction) came out and shot the video for me. She absolutely hates working the video camera or camera for my planes...especially if its for a review but it just proves she really does love me. LOL


http://www.vimeo.com/6745451

[ATIS]

photos added.

I got 2 flights in...impressive. I have heard rumors that HH has stopped shipping the plane as the english on the box is less then perfect.

[dbcisco]

I like the ailerons on these. I have two Cox warbirds (P-40 and P-47) and the rudder (no ailerons) is all but useless at low speeds, might be why eflite does these (and others) with aileron instead of rudder 3ch. Now that COX warbirds are collector items maybe I'll sell them and get one of these.

[ATIS]

I think the key to picking ailerons verse rudder is that you can roll with ailerons so it opens up more spirited flying. I had a few Cox warbirds and without ailerons I got into a lot of trouble with my flying style... and the fact that I was fairly new to flying (9 months of experience) might have been a bad combo.

[WJCJR1]

E-Flite got it right here for sure! Of course we all want everything but if you are going to ditch rudder or ailerons ditch the rudder in a heartbeat, UNLESS you are building a beginners plane which this is not.

Does look very nice in the air. I like the lack of landing gears hanging as well.

Nice plane, good review ATIS I will watch for your further commentary and video.

Wayne

[ATIS]

The lack of LG is nice, but I love the fact that they molded it into the wings bottom. very nice detail touch.

[skywarp]

Great review ATIS. I maidened mine today and it flies great, no bad tendancies that I could tell. The hand launch was easy. I tossed it out like always and she climbed out smooth. It only needed two clicks of up elevator and two clicks of right trim. Most of the flight was at one tick mark above 1/2throttle and I did a couple of WOT low altitude passes (pretty sweet).

[ATIS]

Skywarp, happy to hear your maiden went well. My CG was a little to far back at the 1 1/2" mark so for the second flight I moved the RX as far forward as I could get her (about 4mm from where she was), added a little expo and reduced the elevator throw and she was dream to HL and fly after that. I hope to get video today on the way home from work if the weather holds. They are calling for afternoon showers but we had them yesterday and they ended at 3pm so I hope for a repeat since I wont fly until 4:30.

[ATIS]

Are the pictures in the review dark to anyone? At home they looked fine and you see the unit markins and teeth, here at work they are dark.

[WJCJR1]

Yes they appear dark on the forum... Hard to see detail on the flight Pics.

Wayne

[ATIS]

ok, when I get home I will brighten them up...the 2 under the "Flight Report" banner came out awesome and you could see all the detail.

[MinnFlyer]

They look dark to me. Here's a lightened version of one of them. Let's see how it shows up.
http://www.minnartist.com/RCU/pics/test.jpg

[ATIS]

Mike,

Looks much better, gonna have to touch them up when I get home. Thanks for test it for me. I hate overcast days but with rain in the forecast for the rest of the week and the fact that it stopped long enough to fly yesterday I went for it.

Bryan

[MinnFlyer]

I know what you mean. Doing reviews can be a nightmare - trying to coordinate a pilot, photographer/videographer and good weather all at the same time can be extremely frustrating!

[ATIS]

Understand completely. Camera is normally easy, my next door neighbor is a flying buddy or I grab the wife. Video is the killer for me. Most of the guys I fly with cant keep the camera steady so I hand the plane and sticks to one of the guys I trust (we buy all our review planes) and I shoot the video. It tends to work out most of the time as it gives someone else a chance to experience the plane and give some extra feedback. Thats why the videos for my reviews are always a few days after the maidens.... the wife refuses to use the video camera. (dont tell her but I plan to trick her to show up at the park after work to shoot video today):eye pop:

[MinnFlyer]

Well, LMK if you ever need a video shot. I'm not too close, but I get out that way fairly often. (Or I can fly or shoot stills)

[ATIS]

Sounds great, let me know when you get this way. We can meet up to fly. I have plenty of planes and TX's.

[ATIS]

video added...

[WJCJR1]

Video looked nice the P-40 sure is snappy huh... Flying speed was very acceptable for that size plane.

The plane's looks are very nice too!

Your wife sounded frustrated a couple times, you be sure to tell her she did a fine job. I have had several videos made while I was flying and could not post because the plane is on the screen for a combined time of not more than 13 seconds on a 2 minute video. She did great so pass it on.

Wayne

[ATIS]

Wayne, I will tell her. I lightened 3 of the pictures...hope they are showing up better in the review.

[mitchilito]

I want one!

It's a really cool and acurate looking war bird. Guess I'll have to save up my allowance. . . .

[herk1]

ATIS, are you really using a DX6, or a DX6i?

The plane does look pretty fast in that video...maybe because I'm subconsciously thinking it's bigger than it really is. I would expect to have major orientation confusion on that plane...it's small, dark, and low-wing.

My wife steadfastly refuses to video my RC planes, ever since the first and only attempt went sour. On the maiden flight of my first build (my E-Starter), she lost the plane right after takeoff and never could find it in the viewfinder again. (It wasn't her fault...it had been so long since we used the camcorder that we both had forgotten that the optical viewfinder is disabled unless you close the LCD screen.) I didn't give her a hard time about it, but she could tell I was disappointed, so she said never again.

[ATIS]

Mark, good catch, I am using the DX6i (which I hate cause the sticks lack the tention my DX7's have and I am too lazy to open it up and tighten them).

I understand completely. My wife feels the same way but she knows when I am doing a review I gotta have picts and video ASAP so if i cant get ahold of any of the guys I fly with, she gives in and goes out with the "I hate doing this and make no promises that any of it will be usable". LOL

She is fast, or at least fast for her size. I only used half a full size soccer field so that adds to the appearance of speed but as you could tell using the entire field would have created an orientation nightmare for me and with the suns location I probably would have ended you with the camera stuffed up some place unpleasant!

[ATIS]

Got another flight in today. A little windy, she handled it but I was all over the place trying to keep the wings level. I need to get another lipo for her.

[kirch]

I would like to hear if/when somebody puts a rudder on this plane.

I have learned to perform wing overs on my T28 and one needs a rudder for those.

[cgage]

I have a question about something said in the review. It said it needed to be thrown hard to HL. I was thinking about getting one but I dont throw so well anymore. I noticed that its not any heavier than my mini super cub, which is not difficult to HL. What's the difference? Wonder if you could attach wheels?

[ATIS]

You need to throw her about as hard as a baseball if your playing catch about 10 feet from your catcher...but not break his hand force. If you do the single step throw at 3/4 throttle with a slight angle she will be fine. I used the term "hard" for fear that some would give her the 3 inch push and release which wont give her enough air speed. The wings are more scale so they dont have the lift the mini-SC wings have at the lower airspeed.

[WJCJR1]

Nice explanation ATIS.
Wayne

[ATIS]

no problem... here to help and I hate for others to have bad experiences with good planes.

[Mike]

I want one!

It's a really cool and acurate looking war bird. Guess I'll have to save up my allowance. . . .

I want one too but my LHS said they hadn't planned on purchasing anymore even though they had one hanging on display.

[ATIS]

mike, you can always order from one of our sponsors or directly from HH. I believe in supporting my LHS but the old one sucked so I did alot of webb shopping.

[rcdude07]

Mike, give K/C Hobby in Archdale, NC, a call.

Phone: 336-434-3482

Store Hours:

Mon-Fri 10AM - 7PM

Sat. 10AM - 5PM

Closed on Sunday

http://www.kchobbyonline.com/



Tell them Nick Turner referred you. They will order it and ship to you. Their prices are always below suggested retail price. This is a great hobby shop and willing to do whatever is necessary.

[Mike]

Yeah, I truly believe in support LHS also but the one here just seems like they are in it for the owner and that's it. You can't even return something without the owner present and also, you cannot return ANY electronics, even if it hasn't been taken out of the package. It is a real pain. We had three hobby shops, one has since closed down and the other is presently for sale. So that doesn't leave many choices.

[WJCJR1]

ATIS has always spoke kindly of GBI, I have not purchased from GBI but again all ATIS has said has been good.

Hobbyzone is a terrific store I do have personal experience with. Hobbyzone is very customer oriented and from personally witnessing they go out of their way to make you happy. So please give one of our sponsors a try I am certain you will not be disappointed, if you don't know their web address just click on their logo on our page. If you want tell Hobbyzone Wayne from HorizonRcFlyers sent you, but be prepared you may get some stories :clapping:

Wayne

[Mike]

Mike, give K/C Hobby in Archdale, NC, a call.

Phone: 336-434-3482

Store Hours:

Mon-Fri 10AM - 7PM

Sat. 10AM - 5PM

Closed on Sunday

http://www.kchobbyonline.com/



Tell them Nick Turner referred you. They will order it and ship to you. Their prices are always below suggested retail price. This is a great hobby shop and willing to do whatever is necessary.
They are out of stock as well but thanks for the offer.

[WJCJR1]

HZ has them IN STOCK with Same Day Shipping. Just an FYI. @ 99.99 you'll be 1 cent shy of the free shipping so order a spare prop to get over the hump!
http://secure.hobbyzone.com/search/EFL6075.html

GBI has them In-Stock online as well. Same $99.99 price and states usually ships in 1-2 business days, don't know about shipping fee.

So GBI and HZ have them in stock.

Wayne

[Mike]

Then I will have to order me one. I have a question. I know that the P-40 needs some servos and stuff. I am pulling some parts from a Cx3 and was wondering if the servos and receiver would work for the P-40. The servos are, hold on, let me get my magnifying glass. They are EFLR 60 and the receiver is a Spektrum AR6100e.

[ATIS]

They should work fine. Those are the s60 servos.

[Mike]

Is that a good receiver to use as well?

[ATIS]

Its a great RX... I run it in 90% of my planes.

[tkrahlin]

Then I will have to order me one. I have a question. I know that the P-40 needs some servos and stuff. I am pulling some parts from a Cx3 and was wondering if the servos and receiver would work for the P-40. The servos are, hold on, let me get my magnifying glass. They are EFLR 60 and the receiver is a Spektrum AR6100e.

Mike,

The AR6110e is the recommended radio and makes for an easy fit.

Check out the thread on my mods (semi-build thread).
http://www.horizonrcflyers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1109

[rcdude07]

Mike, did you ever get one ordered? If not here's contact info for Anderson R/C in Thomasville, NC, that also takes orders and ships to customers that aren't local. But to be honest K/C Hobby is lower price and the guy that owns Anderson R/C used to work at K/C Hobby and went off 2 years ago to start his own store centered around cars.

Anderson R/C
1004 Ball Park Road
Thomasville, NC 27360
336-476-6917
www.AndersonR-C.com

** Check Out Our Ebay Store**

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Anderson-RC__W0QQ_armrsZ1

Thanks For Stopping By!
-Matt Anderson

[Mike]

Mike, did you ever get one ordered?
Funny you should ask. I just got home from LHS and they had one so I bought it. I got a couple of recommendations on this forum but they were out of stock. I would love to have done a review of it but I see that someone has already done it. I wish I had more spare time.

[Mike]

Does anyone know why I get the gap in space after the "quote"?

[ATIS]

no idea

[rcdude07]

I wish I had more spare time.

I wish I had the $$$$ to buy new products right away.

[Mike]

I see that the P40 recommends 2s 7.4 430 mAh but I have two left over batteries from my Cx3 and it used 2s 7.4v 800 mAh?

[ATIS]

You might be able to get it to work. I havent tried a larger lipo as I wantd to keep you as light as possbile. As long as you can make CG I dont htink it will hurt too much, landing will be faster.

[WJCJR1]

Yes ATIS good observations on landing and you may lose some zoom-zoom and climbing performance but it is trade-off longer flight times more weight.

Wayne

[Mike]

I just bought the P-40 and was installing the servo for the ailerons and while attempting to fit the servo in the foam, the top of the servo came off. I was able to put it back on but was wondering why it isn't held on by screws like the other servos I have? Also, will this be a problem with possible in the air as it could possibly pull off? Should I attempt to glue it?

[ATIS]

Mike,

what servo? I would take a little sho goo and after I verified that the servo was working correctly, apply a thin coat over the seam of the two halves. Sho Goo is easy to split incase you need to replace gears later. You could also use a little MEDIUM or THICK CA along the seam if you dont have Sho Goo...do not use THIN CA as it will wick through the seam and destroy the servo.

ATIS

[Mike]

what servo? ATIS The "60" servo, that I am using for the airlerons.

[tkrahlin]

The "60" servo, that I am using for the airlerons.

I've seen these servos -- they have some sort of cellophane strap wrapped around them?

Sho Goo is good, but I like to use hot melt glue because you don't have to wait long for it to set up. Warning: If you get hot melt on your fingers, you'll be thinking of little else for a couple of days. ‘Finger Napalm!” ::irked::


The AR6110E RX will fit up under the battery slot along with your ESC.

[ATIS]

I agree, it sounds like the plastic wrap is missing. I would use a little Medium or Thick CA...

[Mike]

I agree, it sounds like the plastic wrap is missing. Now I feel real stupid. I saw that plastic wrap and thought it was apart of the wrapping from the package. Oh well, that is why I joined this site, to gain insight. Thanks

[ATIS]

Mike,

No worries, EFlite and Spektrum are the only ones with the plastic so its a learning experience. Its an easy fix as noted above.

Bryan

[WJCJR1]

Mike this is all part of the hobby. You wait to see the Deuces Wild Review I am writing I learned A LOT. All turned out mostly great but I had to faila couple times to learn the right way by either guidance from ATIS or by just using my melon to work my way out.

About your hot glue finger deal Tkrahlin after I mounted the Nacelles on the DW I felt very much like what you are talking about. However this distraction went away after about a day of tugging at the thin layer of Epoxy that gloved my hand. Also glued my fingers together with thin CA a couple times, that was interesting as well.

So Mike we are always learning something new. I never knew those servos had a cellophane wrap around them. Now that you posed this question and Tim answered we all now know, so thanks for bringing this up.

Wayne

[ATIS]

5 plus years in the hobby and over 60 planes later I am still learning. Thats a great part of the hobby, it will always stimulate your brain...and excite the little kid in all of us.

[tkrahlin]

In the past, I’ve tried to replace gears in a couple of Eflite S75 servos, so I’ve seen and removed the screws. To be honest, that was probably the only thing that stopped me from cutting the cellophane off the S60s. I had the X-acto knife in my hand…“Hmm, where are the screws? What’s holding this together…. Oh!”

[Mike]

Yeah, I saw the plastic as well but thought, no way would plastic wrap being holding it together. On another note, I haven't got the Warhawk in the air yet but was looking at the programming of the ESC. Why would you want or not want your prop to spin with no throttle?

[ATIS]

Turn the brake off...if it spins it will give a little more resistance in the air..but when you land it will get pushed out of the way so you dont break it. Brake on is more for sail planes with folding props, the suddened stop helps them snap back over the nose out of the way reducing their resistance in the air.

[Mike]

if it spins it will give a little more resistance in the air.. Just for clarification, if the brake is not on, in the air there will be more resistance. Do you want more resistance?

[ATIS]

yes, with it turning there will more resistance....but thats a good thing as it helps it slow down and lets the prop move when you land so it doesnt break.

[Mike]

I just ruined a servo gluing it into this little plane. I guess the glue seeped into the servo and locked it up. Is there really a need to glue them anyway? They go in so tight.

[ATIS]

yes, but I only put a drop or two of Foam Safe CA along the tabs, not near the body of the servo. First thing to do is install the servo, spray the tab and foam with kicker, then place a drop of foam safe CA along the tab with the wing slightly tilted so the CA runs away from the servo. Then repeat for the other side. Its slightly slower to do it this way but for the extra 30 seconds your servo is safe from damage.

Using glue to hold the servo is a safety precaution. Over time the servo will try and twist in the foam slowly widening the servo pocket and at some point it could work itself free (not to mention as it slowly widens the servo pocket it will introduce control surface slop)

[WJCJR1]

Two faced tape can work as well.

Wayne

[Mike]

HL was a little scary, she went nose up on launch and I had to stuff the stick to get her level. I have had days that the HL is great but then other times the plane does exactly what you said. It goes straight up, turns and then heads for the ground. Any idea what is causing this? I have crashed it a couple being unable to recover from that HL.

[ATIS]

I think its launching with too much power. She should climb at WOT and I think that and a little too much angle on launch causes her to go nose high. 3/4 throttle and a stiff level throw and she flys fine.

[Mike]

Any reason why it appears that my elevator servo seems to throw the down elevation more than the up? I looked at the servo arm while moving my stick up and down and it definatly throws more when pulling up. I thought this might be a setting in my dx6i but I have never made any adjustments on the radio as of yet.

[ATIS]

Your servo arm is probably not centered...is it 90* off the side of the servo body? If it isnt then you need to remove it and remount it 90* and then re-adjust the elevator pushrod at the tail to center the control surface.